Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 20:12:41 EDT
From: Stephanie Hysmith
Subject: Anodyne Expletive auf Deutsch
Ohio University Electronic Communication
Date: 08-May-1995 07:49pm EST
To: Remote Addressee ( _mx%"ads-l[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uga.cc.uga.edu" )
From: Stephanie Hysmith Dept: English
HYSMITH Tel No: 614-593-2743
Subject: Anodyne Expletive auf Deutsch
I hoped when I first ventured to respond to the list's discussions that
I would make a more dignified entrance than discussing assholes. Oh, well. I
liked, I think it was, Wayne Glowka's speculation about asel and esel. (My
brother-in-law reported it to me as "asel," but this was probably pronounced
[es[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]l]. I apologize for not verifying the pronunciation before I jumped in.)
This would make sense along with the sow's ear and mule's ear...a mule is close
to a donkey.
As far as Arschlochs go, the Germans do seem pretty open about bodily
parts and functions, but I learned when I lived there that they do not tend to
call each other assholes. Peter McGraw's comment about his German neighbors
calling people Arschloch seems to be a literal translation rather than an
imported expletive. I've seen the same thing with expressions such as "wash
the dishes." Second generation German speakers call it Geschirr waschen rather
than Geschirr abspulen.
Back to the esel thing, it reminded me of someone else's query about
baloney--I guess I'll just get everything out of my system--to me it sounds an
awful lot like blarney and, for my money, means the same thing.
Stephanie Hysmith
Ohio University
Received: 08-May-1995 08:12pm